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He’s not exactly a boy — the lead character in the Charlotte Jones play “Humble Boy” is in his mid-30s — but he is literally humble: Felix Humble, a man-child and burgeoning British astrophysicist who returns home for his father’s funeral and instantly has trouble dealing with all the baggage the phrase “returning home” can carry with it.

His mother is humble, too, but only in name. Flora Humble is Felix’s self-absorbed mother who was recovering from her nose job when she dropped her copy of Vogue magazine as she sensed something was wrong with her husband of nearly 40 years (that “something wrong” was her husband dropping dead in their garden). She badgers her brilliant if emotionally conflicted son and, for that matter, pretty much everyone else in her life.

“Humble Boy” is a sweet little play, if occasionally a bit harsh in tone and sledgehammer subtle when it comes to the characters’ names. It should come as no surprise, for instance, that Flora Humble receives lessons about humility among the flora of her garden or that Felix Humble is sweet on a gal named Rosie Pye (humble pie, anyone?). The script also suffers from characters whose behavior changes too abruptly, perhaps simply because the playwright wanted them to more than by nature.

The production that premiered Wednesday at Champlain Theatre elevated that nice if imperfect script with fine performances by a well-chosen cast that includes two of Vermont’s most compelling actors, Seth Jarvis as Felix and Monica Callan as his unmanageable mother. Champlain Theatre’s long-time director, Joanne Farrell, delivers one of her more rewarding productions with this play that’s both lighthearted and weighty.

Felix is dismayed to find that his mother has moved on so quickly from his father’s death that she has given away most of his items, including the late biology teacher’s beloved collection of bees. She’s also given away her heart to a boorish businessman named George Pye (Mark Alan Gordon), who happens to be the father of Rosie (Alex Hudson), the gal Felix was sweet on until he left her behind in one of his more outstanding displays of immaturity. This all sounds like a mess Felix can’t begin to fix. But can he at least find peace for himself and the troubled people who surround him?

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Jarvis, so powerful last fall in the Saints & Poets Production of “The Pillowman,” loses little of the intensity from that role for his portrayal of Felix Humble. Jarvis gives Felix doses of strength and clear-headedness that show there’s more to this humble boy than insecurity.

Callan often shines in more daring productions — her own scripts or the works of Stephen Goldberg, for instance — and this is a more mainstream piece of theater, yet she handles the role of Flora Humble with all the chutzpah and slightly faded glamour it requires. She delivered some of her lines Wednesday with too much hesitation, cutting into her character’s brazen facade, but when she nailed her bon mots she was terrific (“Killjoys” she muttered sharply when told manufacturers made it so people can’t commit suicide with gas stoves anymore).

Those two are rivaled in the stage-presence department by Gordon as George Pye and by Champlain Theatre veteran Kelly Jane Thomas as Flora’s overly-devoted friend, Mercy. Gordon, the former associate artistic director of the Champlain Shakespeare Festival who recently relocated to Burlington, is funny and a little scary as the unlikely suitor of Flora whose bluster is often undercut by his obliviousness, such as when he asks Felix the astrophysicist how his career in astrology is going. Thomas has a delightfully dotty, Emma Thompson-like bearing as the friend and de facto housekeeper who has absolutely no chance of keeping this household together.

Jim Lantz’s set is lush and peaceful, with its patio furniture, hip-high brick wall and potted plants fronting a leafy, hilly backdrop creating a warm scene evoking the Mediterranean as much as it does the Cotswolds, and providing contrast to the chilly air circulating through the Humble family. Pianist Eric Pearson creates spooky, minimalist music that lets the audience into the fragmented, buzzing mind of Felix Humble.

That’s a lot of pieces working together in harmony, just like a flowering garden with disparate plants creating one cohesive place. The various moving parts in the Champlain Theatre production of “Humble Boy” have that same pleasing effect.